“But recently I began to feel that maybe I wouldn’t be able to do what I want to do and need to do with American musicians, who are imprisoned behind these bars; music’s got these bars and measures you know?”--Sun Ra

Considering the static on Facebook I saw when a poster sounded out people on whether a bicycle second line in honor of David Bowie’s passing was disrespectful to New Orleans tradition, I expected the social media shitrain to fall over the non-vehicular one that took place Saturday in the French Quarter.

[Update] When Foo Fighters performed in the front window of Preservation Hall, The Breton Sound’s Jonathan Pretus made it to the front row. Nola.com ran a photo of him, his wife Julia and his brother Brian from punk band Pears separated by a barrier and three feet from Dave Grohl, and the band’s recent EP makes his affection for the band clear.

[Updated] Two weeks ago, I wrote about the opening of The Music Box’s Roving Village: City Park here and here. It will remain in place and open through May 9, with additional performances, artist talks, and free play in the houses.

I’ve contended from the start that Sonic Highways, Foo Fighters’ HBO series, works best as autobiography. It doesn’t so much shine a light on the cities’ music cultures as the parts of it that Dave Grohl related to.

It was bad enough that The Tontons couldn't play loudly enough to keep Foo Fighters from being heard at the rail in front of the band at Le Ritual Stage Sunday night. When Taylor Hawkins' snare was part of the soundtrack for Miss Pussycat's handmade puppet show an hour later, it was hard to fight the vibe of bro privilege that comes off the band.

Yesterday, HBO released the first trailer for Sonic Highways, the series that will feature Foo Fighters traveling to major American music cities to record songs for their upcoming album. New Orleans was among the band's stops, and it is featured prominently early in the trailer. The Foo Fighters recorded and performed a secret show at Preservation Hall, which is also featured in the trailer.

Inspired by the example set by Alan Lomax, our mission is to stimulate cultural equity through preservation, research, and dissemination of the world's traditional music, and to reconnect people and communities with their creative heritage.